Tensile Test of Copper Fibers in Conformance

with ASTM C1557 using Agilent UTM T150

Application Note
Sandip Basu

Introduction
Fibers play an important role in various
applications such as composites,
textile, insulation, filtration, and even
in biomedical tissue engineering.
In recent years, there has been
an increase in scientific interest
towards ultrathin fibers for enhanced
performance because of reduced defect
concentration. Hence, measurement of
mechanical properties of thin fibers is of
utmost importance to the engineering
community. Although mechanical
behavior of large-diameter fibers is well
documented, systematic mechanical
characterization of thin fibers has been
sparse, because measurement tools
that conform to the requirements of
international standards have not been
widely available.

Figure 1. The Agilent UTM T150.

The Agilent UTM T150 (Figure 1) has

been specifically designed to address
the need to characterize mechanical
behavior of thin fibers in conformance
with the standard C1557-03 from ASTM
International [1]. The UTM T150 has
already been successfully utilized to
characterize ultrathin polymeric fibers
[2], spider silk [3-10], lyocell fibers [11],
basalt glass fibers, tungsten wire and

polypropylene [12]. It offers the highest

resolution in load and displacement up
to 500mN of load that makes the UTM
T150 suitable for thin fibers with a wide
range of properties.
The ASTM C1557 test method covers
sample preparation and determination
of tensile strength and Youngs modulus
at ambient temperature. It is valid for
any fiber specimen with diameter up
to 250 m. To conform to the ASTM
C1557-03 standard, the testing machine
should be in conformance with standard
practice ASTM E4, which specifies that
the force measurement should be within
1% at any force within the selected
force range. The force transducer in the
Agilent UTM T150 is calibrated using
standard weights, which are NIST
traceable. Hence, the uncertainties in
force measurement for the complete
force range are much smaller than
1%. The standard specifications for
the Agilent UTM T150 are given in
Table 1. The current application note
demonstrates how the UTM T150 is
used to determine the tensile strength
and Youngs modulus of thin copper
(Cu) wire in conformance with the
ASTM C1557-03.

Maximum Load
Load Resolution
Maximum Actuating Transducer Displacement
Displacement Resolution
Dynamic Displacement Resolution
Maximum Crosshead Extension
Extension Resolution
Extension Rate
Table 1. Agilent UTM T150 specifications.

500mN (50.8 gm)

50nN (5.1gm)
1mm
< 0.1nm
< 0.001nm
150mm
35nm
0.5 m/s to 5mm/s

Theory
In a tensile test, the engineering stress
in a fiber is defined as:
F

 =A
(1)
0
where, F is the tensile force and A0 is
the original fiber cross-sectional area.
The engineering strain of the fiber is
defined as:

Split-shim grip
for holding card
template

Gage
Length

Knobs for X-Y

Micro-positioner

l

= l
(2)
0
where, l0 is the specimen gage length
and l is the increase in gage length.
The actual fiber elongation, l, can be
calculated from;
l = L Cs F

(3)

where, L is the recorded cross-head

displacement and Cs is the frame
compliance. To conform to the ASTM
C1557-03 standard test method, the
frame compliance should be determined
accurately. The detailed procedure for
determination of frame compliance is
outlined in the Agilent UTM T150 Users
Manual.
Once the tensile stress-strain curve is
plotted, the Youngs modulus, E, of the
fiber is determined from the slope of the
initial linear region.
At the point of failure, the tensile
strength of a fiber is calculated by
dividing the tensile force at the point of
failure by the final cross-sectional area
at fracture plane, Af. ASTM C1557-03
recommends that the final crosssectional area be measured directly
by means of microscopy. However, an
estimate of the final cross-sectional
area is obtained by assuming a constantvolume deformation:
l
(4)
Af = A0 ( l +0l )
0

Experimental Method
Sample Preparation
Thin Cu wire (48 AWG) was purchased
from MWS Wire Industries, Westlake
Village, CA. As fiber diameter is an
important parameter to calculate the
fiber cross-sectional area, and hence
the tensile stress, the ASTM test
method suggests using a scanning
electron microscope (SEM) to determine
diameters of thin fibers. The diameter
of the Cu wire used in this study is
measured to be 28.6 0.1m, using the
Agilent 8500 Field Emission SEM.

Figure 2. Single Cu wire mounted on a template

made of card-stock.

The Cu wire is cut into small pieces and

individual fibers are mounted on card
templates, as shown in Figure 2. (Note:
The ASTM standard suggests printing
the mounting tab pattern on cardstock for consistent fiber length). The
ends of the fibers are secured using
cyanoacrylate. The gage length of the
Cu wire specimen is measured between
the two attached points (Figure 2)
using a caliper (Mitutoyo Corporation,
Japan). The card template with the
fiber specimen are then mounted on
the UTM T150 as shown in Figure 3.
Note that although ASTM suggests
a template design, the test method is
valid for any gripping method as long
as the grips are properly aligned with
the line of tension. To address this
requirement, the UTM T150 has an
X-Y micropositioner (Figure 3). This
prevents spurious bending strains
and/or stress concentrations in the
fiber. According to the ASTM standard
the test results should be discarded if
the fiber failure occurs at the grip or
outside the gage section.
After each sample is mounted and
aligned, the sides of the card-stock
template are clipped to release the
sample for testing (Figure 3). The Cu

a. Required Inputs

Units
Strain Rate
1/s
Maximum Strain
mm/mm
Original Specimen Diameter m
Specimen Gage Length
mm
Tension Trigger
N
Specimen Name
(String)

Figure 3. Single fiber sample (Cu wire) mounted

in the UTM T150 using split-shim grips. The card
template has been cut to release the sample for
testing. Note the micropositioner attached to
the top grip that ensures proper alignment of the
fiber specimen.

wires are tested with a strain rate

of 2 x 10 -3 s-1. There is no particular
reason behind selecting this strain
rate, however it kept the time to failure
(time from the start of loading to the
fracture) within 30s, as specified in the
ASTM C1557-03 standard test method.
In case the time to failure exceeds 30s,
the NanoSuite test method (see below)
displays a warning message so that the
strain rate can be modified accordingly.

Test Method
The quasi-static tensile test method,
UTM T150 ASTM C1557 Fiber Tensile
Strength Modulus, has been designed
to accommodate the required and
post editable inputs mentioned in the
ASTM C1557-03. Tables 2a and 2b show
the required inputs and the post-test
editable inputs, respectively. A detailed
explanation of each input is given in the
method documentation in NanoSuite.
The method calculates the tensile
strength as the failure force divided by

b. Editable Inputs

Units
Final Cross-sectional Area
m2
Frame Stiffness Correction N/m
Original Specimen Diameter m
Specimen Gage Length
mm
Slope Segment Length
%
Specimen Name
(String)

Table 2. (a) Required inputs, and (b) Inputs editable post-test in the NanoSuite test method
conforming to ASTM C1557-03 standard.
2

Units
mm/s
Hz
m2
mN
m
mm
(String)
1/s
MPa
N
(String)
s
m/N
GPa

Table 3. Results obtained from the Agilent NanoSuite test

method for the UTM T150, in conformance with the ASTM
C1557-03.

the final fiber cross-sectional area as

calculated from Eq. 4. However, if the
user follows the recommendation of
ASTM C1557-03 and directly measures
the final cross-sectional area by means
of microscopy, the user can edit the
measurements in the cross sectional
area post-test. This modification will
recalculate the Tensile Strength Based
on Final Area. Table 3 is a summary
of results reported by this NanoSuite
test method, following the prescription
of ASTM C1557-03. The NanoSuite
test method also reports the total
compliance for each measurement;
this value may be used to determine
the frame compliance following the
procedure outlined in the UTM T150
Users Manual.

Test #

Engineering Stress (MPa)

Results
Cross-head Displacement Rate
Data Acquisition Rate
Final Cross-sectional Area
Force To Failure
Original Specimen Diameter
Specimen Gage Length
Specimen Name
Strain Rate
Tensile Strength Based on Final Area
Tension Trigger
Time at Beginning of Experiment
Time To Fracture
Total Compliance
Youngs Modulus

Engineering Strain (mm/mm)

Figure 4. The engineering stress-strain curve for 6 Cu wire specimen tested using the
UTM T150 in conformance with the ASTM C1557-03 standard test method. The dotted
line delineates the elastic deformation.

Results and Discussion

Table 4 summarizes the results from
6 Cu wire specimens from the same
spool. The engineering stress vs.
engineering strain curves from the
tensile tests are shown in Figure 4. Each
curve clearly exhibits a linear-elastic
regime (dotted line in Figure 4) followed
by plastic yield and strain hardening
prior to fracture. The consistency of the
measured stress-strain values is evident
from the good reproducibility of the
linear-elastic region.
The slope measured from the linearelastic regime of engineering stressstrain curves is the Youngs modulus
of the material. In the present study,
the Youngs modulus for Cu-wire is

Final
Original Specimen
Cross-sectional
Diameter (m)
Area (m)2

Specimen
Gage Length
(mm)

Force to Failure
(mN)

measured to be 130 5 GPa (Table 4),

which is consistent with previously
reported modulus values for Cu [13].
The tensile strength of the Cu-wire,
measured from the quotient of force
to failure and the final cross-sectional
area, is 327 6 MPa (Table 4), which
is higher than the tensile strength
calculated using the original crosssectional area (310 5MPa). This
behavior is expected because the fiber
cross-sectional area decreases with
increasing elongation to conserve
the specimen volume. However, as
mentioned above, the Final Crosssectional Area can be edited post-test
and the software will recalculate the
values for tensile strength based on

Tensile Strength
Youngs Modulus
Based on Final
(GPa)
Area (MPa)

28.600

609.670

38.200

194.638

319.251

130.736

28.600

604.062

39.800

200.060

331.191

134.489

28.600

607.938

36.200

202.820

333.620

136.739

28.600

612.095

35.100

198.866

324.894

127.783

28.600

605.582

35.200

195.889

323.473

121.818

28.600

606.665

38.100

201.377

331.941

127.541

Mean

28.600

607.669

37.100

198.942

327.395

129.851

Std. Dev.

0.000

2.899

1.893

3.165

5.688

5.364

% COV

0.00

0.48

5.10

1.59

1.74

4.13

Table 4. Summary of tensile test results from 6 copper wires.

the final area. The small amount of

variation in the measured tensile
strength may be due to the distribution
of surface defects in the fiber.

Conclusions
The Agilent UTM T150 conforms to
the specifications of ASTM C1557-03
standard test method. The Youngs
modulus and tensile strength of thin
copper wire, as determined from the
tensile tests using UTM T150 and the
NanoSuite test method, agrees with
the previously reported values.

Significance
This application note demonstrates
the integrity and reproducibility of test
results from the Agilent UTM T150.
The ASTM C1557-03 standard test
method conformance not only provides
confidence in the results but also helps
in fundamental understanding of fiber
behavior without any complication
from the measurement technique. It
shows great promise in the evaluation
of tensile strength and Youngs modulus
of thin fibers at the research and
development level.

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References
1. ASTM C1557-03(2008) Standard Test
Method for Tensile Strength and
Youngs Modulus of Fibers, 2008,
ASTM International.
2. Tan, E.P.S., S.Y. Ng, and C.T. Lim, Tensile
testing of a single ultrafine polymeric
fiber. Biomaterials, 2005. 26(13):
p. 1453-1456.
3. Blackledge, T.A., J.E. Swindeman,
and C.Y. Hayashi, Quasistatic and
continuous dynamic characterization of
the mechanical properties of silk from
the cobweb of the black widow spider
Latrodectus hesperus. The Journal of
Experimental Biology, 2005. 208:
p. 1937-1949.
4. Blackledge, T.A., A.P. Summers, and C.Y.
Hayashi, Gumfooted lines in black widow
cobwebs and the mechanical properties
of spider capture silk. Zoology, 2005.
108(1): p. 41-46.
5. Blackledge, T.A. and C.Y. Hayashi,
Unraveling the mechanical properties of
composite silk threads spun by cribellate
orb-weaving spiders. The Journal of
Experimental Biology, 2006. 209:
p. 3131-3140.
6. Blackledge, T.A. and C.Y. Hayashi,
Silken toolkits: biomechanics of silk
fibers spun by the orb web spider Argiope

(877) 894 4414

305 269 7500
(800) 829 4444

Asia Pacific
argentata (Fabricius 1775). The Journal
of Experimental Biology, 2006. 209:
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7. Swanson, B.O., et al., Variation in the
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8. Hayashi, C.Y., T.A. Blackledge, and
R.V. Lewis, Molecular and Mechanical
Characterization of Aciniform Silk:
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in a Novel Member of the Spider Silk
Fibroin Gene Family. Molecular Biology
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9. Swanson, B.O., T.A. Blackledge, and C.Y.
Hayashi, Spider Capture Silk: Performance
Implications of Variation in an Exceptional
Biomaterial. Journal of Experimental
Zoology, 2007. 307A: p. 654-666.
10. Swanson, B.O., et al., Spider Dragline
Silk: Correlated and Mosaic Evolution in
High-performance Biological Materials.
Evolution, 2006. 60(12): p. 2539-2551.
11. Lee, S.H., et al., Mechanical properties
and creep behavior of lyocell fibers by
nanoindentation and nano-tensile testing.
Holzforschung, 2007. 61: p. 254-260.
12. Hay, J., Quasi-static and Dynamic
Properties of Technical Fibers. Agilent
Technologies Application Note, 2010.
13. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copper.

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Agilent Technologies, Inc. 2011

Printed in USA, November 15, 2011
5990-9505EN